Harmony
by eerocks12
Summary: Zuko teaches Aang firebending, while trying to earn Katara's trust. Iroh plays matchmaker as Aang prepares to defeat firelord Ozai once and for all, while Zuko seeks information about his missing mother. Adventure/Romance/Comedy. Zutara.
1. Chapter 1

"My Lord, we've received information from squad D" informed a Fire Nation sentry as he approached the Fire Lord in the echoing chamber that was the throne room.

"Well, what is it?" snapped Fire Lord Ozai as her glared down upon this useless citizen. His voice reverberated through the room as his children of fire flickered in their iron candlesticks.

"General Soku of squad D has captured mister Iroh, and has received word from one of his spies that the Avatar is hiding out in the Western Air Temple. Soku requests permission to invade the temple, and personally bring you the Avatar." Replied the guard as Ozai's face contorted into a wicked smile. The Fire Lord was quiet for a moment, calculating exactly what he would do to the Avatar once General Soku brought the little cretin to his palace. Another fiendish grin split across his face as he told the guard to send his approval of Soku's proposal.

"Make sure to tell him to bring the Avatar and his little posse here alive; I have plans for the Avatar that are much, much worse than death. Oh, and tell the general to dispose of Iroh; it's about time that old barnacle was out of the picture" Demanded Ozai. The sentry bowed, and scurried out of the chamber to fulfill his master's orders.

Ozai's cold, humorless laugh echoed throughout the room as he though of his plans for the Avatar.

"You've dodged a lot of bullets, Airbender. It's only a matter of time before one hits its mark."

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At the Western Air Temple

"Firebending is in the breath; breathe in, breath out, and feel the heat in your lungs. When you step, be the fire; indulge in it, but do not let the flames consume you. Fire is wild, but tamable." Finished Zuko as he taught Aang his firebending lesson for the day. Aang listened intently, and copied Zuko's movements as flames protruded from the center of his palms. Zuko corrected his form as Katara prepared their evening meal. Toph was in her Earth-tent taking a nap, and Sokka was aimlessly throwing his boomerang around.

Sokka had been very moody lately, and wouldn't explain his behavior. Katara knew he was putting on a tough demeanor, while on the inside he was bottling up his feelings. Sokka always did this when he was feeling very emotional, so Katara didn't press him. She knew he would share what was wrong sooner or later, and she would be there to comfort and support him. She sighed and went back to preparing their food.

Once Aang was done with his lesson, he went and sat next to Katara. He smiled goofily as he showed off by performing simple, yet enchanting tricks as he combined his firebeding skills with his airbending expertise. Katara laughed lazily as she watched his performance.

Zuko gazed around their little campsite in the ancient Air Temple, sinking into his thoughts. He looked at each and every one of his new comrades; no, they were more than comrades, they were his…..friends. The word felt strange to him, but it was a positive sensation. After all, he'd never had friends before these four individuals.

He looked at Sokka, who although was a bit of an idiot sometimes, was a genuinely nice guy. Zuko hoped that the two of them could grow closer. Zuko glanced at Toph, who was as tough as she was kind. It was her that had convinced the rest of the group to accept him into the gang (or gaang, as Sokka liked to call it). She was an awesome person to be around, and Zuko would always thank her for giving him the benefit of the doubt. He looked at Aang next, remembering all the time he wasted chasing after him. The kid was actually pretty cool, was a fast learner, and definitely a powerful bender. Zuko was going to do anything it took to help the Avatar defeat his father, Ozai, and his sister, Azula. Zuko then peaked at Katara, who had yet to trust him. He knew that he really didn't deserve any of their trust, but Katara was different.

When they were trapped together in Ba Sing Se, Zuko admitted to her about his mother, and his horrible past. She shared her past with him too, and she actually started trusting him then and there. But when Zuko sided with Azula, it was a betrayal that was unforgivable in her eyes. He hoped that someday he could make it up to her, but how he was going to execute that action was still unknown to him. He also needed to make it up to his uncle, whom he hadn't seen since Ba Sing Se when Zuko betrayed him.

God, he'd been such a moron. Once Aang completely mastered firebending, Zuko was going to suggest going out to find his uncle Iroh. All Zuko could hope for was that his uncle could find it in his heart to forgive him. He'd hurt a lot of people, and now it was time to make it up to those individuals.

Zuko was still staring at Katara when she caught his eye, and glared into his soul. Her eyes were as cold and hard as diamonds, but just as beautiful. There was no hint of betrayal in her pupils; only that of emotionless hatred.

Zuko flinched under her gaze, but kept the eye contact for reasons unknown to himself. They stared at each other in locked concentration for who knows how long. In the end, it was Katara who broke the connection as an explosion rocked the very foundation they were standing on. She looked up in fear, getting out her flask of water at the ready, preparing for whatever danger was awaiting them. Toph jumped up from her nap surprised, but hurriedly got into her offensive stance, glaring in concentration at the Earth as she felt their invaders movements.

Smoke clogged the air until Aang cleared it away using airbending. Once clarity returned to the scene, they saw a Fire Nation general standing before them with a small armada behind him.

He smiled at the five of them as he lifted up his arm, signaling for his army to charge.


	2. Chapter 2

At The Western Air Temple

The armada behind the fire nation general charged towards the gaang. Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka automatically reacted, each defensively using the weapon of their choice. Sokka shouted his battle cry (with his voice cracking slightly) and rushed forward to meet their enemy, thrashing his boomerang around and occasionally making contact with a soldier. Katara bended the water in her flask into the form of a whip, and lashed a guard in the head with stinging accuracy. Aang was blowing guards out of his way like there was no tomorrow, throwing air balls at them with the force of a hurricane. Toph was by far the most impressive in her fighting style, taking on 5 sentries at once while blasting chunks of rocks at their heads.

Whilst this was happening, Zuko was staring open-mouthed in shock at the battle occurring in front of him. How had this happened? One moment everything had been fine, and the next they were forced into battle; he had to do something… Once he regained his wits, he shouted into the pandemonium "Stop it! Stop it! I'm Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation and I command you to stop this at once!" The fleet of Fire Nation men stopped half in confusion and half in obedience, realizing that they were attacking Fire Nation royalty. This gave Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka the chance they needed, for it allowed them to attack their invaders mercilessly.

"What are you doing?!" Shouted the general angrily as he watched his men stand around unmoving while their target attacked them.

"General Soku, its Prince Zuko. He ordered us to stop fighting, so we must obey!" Replied a cowering soldier as Aang hit him in the stomach with an air ball, throwing him back ten feet.

Another man spoke up, "We can't attack the _Prince! _Lord Ozai'll have our heads if we do!" Toph threw a boulder at him, which he just barely dodged.

"_I'll_ have your heads if you disobey my orders! Prince Zuko has been exiled; he's a traitor to the Fire Nation! If you defy me once more I'll kill you myself!" Shouted General Soku as he glared at the shunned Prince, rousing his soldiers to keep fighting. To assure his men, the General unsheathed his sword and ran forward to meet his enemy. The armada seemed to accept his explanation, and rushed into battle with their general.

Although the gaang had taken out a great number of guards in the confusion, it still didn't change the fact that they were outnumbered. Soon it became clear who was in the lead, and the gaang was forced to fall back. Even when Zuko joined them in the fight, his skill still wasn't enough to beat near 70 guards single-handedly. Soon they were backed up against the Western Air Temple wall, defending for their lives.

They heard a large wail of pain, and turned to find that Appa had been taken down, with multiple strings pulled tight against his fur as several Fire Nation men fought to keep him immobile. One man was holding a small sack closed tightly, while Momo's black tail peeked out of the top. They could see the small creature squirming in the confines of the bag, and wanted desperately to help him. However, General Soku's guards were keeping them cornered against the wall, and soon had the group captured.

Sokka fell first; he yelped as a guard yanked away his boomerang and roughly pulled him away from the rest of the group. They heard his grunts of pain as the men roughly tied him up, and he was then thrown near Appa, with a gag in his mouth. Zuko was the next to go. Although he had great skill in firebending, he was fighting other firebenders who knew the weaknesses of the art. They shot at his legs, causing him to repeatedly loose his footing and was therefore unable to shoot fire at them .They kept him moving as well, which caused his heart rate to rise, so he was therefore unable to breath normally. They took away the 2 key factors in firebending: the stance, and the breath. Soon, they took him down and threw him next to Sokka. However, Zuko's restraints were made of chains, so he wouldn't be able to simply burn them off like he would normal twine.

Katara was the next to fall; once Zuko had been tied down, all of his opponents had ganged up on her. Even the most powerful waterbender cannot defend themselves against 20 guards with notable firebending skills. Her water flask was removed and thrown over the edge of the cliff, and she was tied tightly with rope and thrown next to Sokka, a gag in her mouth as well.

Aang and Toph were the only fighters left. This bode badly for Toph, because the soldiers completely ignored Aang and all went to immobilize her. Aang tried to help her, but the armada simply pushed him roughly back as they surrounded the earthbender. A man grabbed her around the middle. She screamed and stomped the floor, causing an earth pillar to shoot up from under him and fling him to the other side of the temple. The others learned from this move, and quickly picked her up off the ground so she was unable to earthbend. She screamed and thrashed, but was unable to keep them from tying her up, and throwing her in a sack which they suspended from the ceiling. This way, she was unable to earthbend because she could not touch the floor. With only Aang left, the soldiers backed off and allowed General Soku to step forward.

"Hello, Avatar" he told Aang, smiling evilly.

"I suggest you do exactly as I say, or else something very unpleasant will happen to your friends".

Aang's eyes darted to his team, all immobilized and on the ground (minus Toph who was suspended in a bag from the ceiling). His eyes were filled with pain as he lowered his head and agreed to do as General Soku said.

"Excellent" said the general, smiling. "Tie him up!" He ordered at some of his men, who hastily obeyed. Aang held out his arms willingly, looking guiltily and painfully at his friends. The general started shouting orders at his armada, readying to leave.

"We will get back to the camp by nightfall. Then we will take one nights rest, and tomorrow morning we shall set off to the Fire Nation. Anyone who causes any more delays than necessary shall find themselves suspended from their hair in the dungeons when we get back. Do I make myself understood?" Ordered the general as he paced around the temple.

A chorus of 'Yes Sir's echoed through the chamber, and the small army headed towards their camp sight. The gaang (minus Aang, who was going to be walking with 10 guards surrounding him to the campsite) was thrown into a small, wooden cart and were rolled to the temporary camp.

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They had reached the camp by nightfall. General Soku was in a bad mood, and ordered one of his men to deal with their hostages.

"Put them next to the other prisoner" he said tiredly, trudging off to his warm tent. The guard obeyed and went off to do his duties. Aang was going to be watched all night by the same 10 men that had guarded him walking over from the temple. His friends, however, were just going to be put with the one other prisoner.

Toph was first suspended from a large wooden pole, and the rest of the gaang was lazily thrown on the ground near her. Katara winced as a sharp rock dug into her arm and scratched at the skin. Zuko tried to look up and examine his surroundings. That way, maybe he could find a way to escape…..

As he examined the site, his eyes locked onto a figure that was tied to a pole (it was the same pole that Toph was being hung in her bag from). The man looked at them curiously and happily at the same time.

"Uncle…." Zuko whispered.


End file.
